Colorful Brunch @ Three Monkeys Place

Found another local goodie on the east side of town! Three Monkeys Place is a small but cosy cafe in the busy Jackson Court area just 10 min from Doncaster Shopping Center. There’s a huge car park in front of the cafe so that is another bonus of eating here.The number of items on their menu is very small but what they do have is done well. I like their detailed eye to plating and the beautiful vibrancy of all their dishes.

The inside of the cafe can be a a bit squishy, particularly during the peak brunch / lunch hours. They have a smallish main seating area at the front, indoor corridor seating, and a nice backyard area, perfect for those warm sunny days when you want to eat your meal whilst getting a tan. The table decorations are very cute too as seen in the photos below 😀

Photo | Some of the food we ordered (Cronuts on the left, “The Playground” dish on the right). So yum 😀

The Playground

We ordered “The Playground” and I was very satisfied with the generous amount of food and the plating. I loved how everything was placed in circular formation with the beans in the center. All those colours were definitely very inviting to the senses. The dish had bacon, sauteed mushrooms, spinach, tomato, and poached eggs on sour dough. The best part were the beans. They were very tasty, not overly salty, but just tangy and smokey enough to want more and more (and more!)

Thyme and Beets

We also had “Thyme and Beets” which is a cured salmon dish served with a roquette & fennel salad, horseradish cream cheese, potato rosti and poached egg. Like all their dishes, the plating was beautiful. I liked how the salmon was wrapped to look like roses. I think the creaminess from the horseradish sauce and the fried potato rosti made the dish lean on the heavy side, making you feel very full for a very long time. The cured salmon was also a bit bland. It would been nice if it had just a bit more of a tang from the beetroot, or more of a hit from the Thyme.

Sweet Monkey

Three Monkeys Place definitely has a signature dish and that would be their “Sweet Monkey” dish. It is a fried roti pancake with mascarpone, maple syrup, banana and mixed berries. If you check out the Three Monkeys hashtag on Instagram, this dish would be popping up on >50% of the feed. It is a very beautiful dish with eye-popping vibrancy. In terms of taste, everything works well. You have a creamy element form the mascarpone, the crunch from the roti pancake, and some palatal relief from the mixed berries. I am not a huge fan of fried food but I can guarantee that more than 90% of the population would love this dish.

Matcha French Toast

I was more a fan of the “Matcha French Toast” dish instead. The name is definitely misleading though because it wasn’t french toast as such. Instead, it was more of an oven baked style bread/cake. For the better, because I much prefer oven baked goods than french toast which is fried and can be very oily. The matcha bread was served with a heavenly and delicious chestnut mousse, mochi, red beans, black sesame pouring sauce & biscuit crumb. The bread itself was a bit on the dry side and did not have much of a matcha flavour. Despite that, matcha and red beans in general, make such a great combination, and the creaminess from the chestnut cream was just perfect. I absolutely adored the plating. Unlike the Sweet Monkey which was fun and playful, the Matcha dish was sophisticated and delicate.

Cronuts

At the front counter, there are a selection of cakes. I loved the Cronuts at Three Monkeys Place because they aren’t overly sweet. There was also no oily after taste often associated with doughnuts which was good. We ordered the custard cronut and the apple crumble cronut. Both were delicious but I like the apple crumble one more because I like to have a crunchy element in my food. Overall, I really like the food at Three Monkeys Place. Although their menu is limited, what they do have is good. It is a nice, cosy cafe for both brunch and late afternoon teas (especially those cronuts mmmm!)